HELP!!! I am making carnations instead of roses.

Dawn - Are you here today? I used your BC recipe (and by the way it IS incredible). Here is my problem...... When I am making roses the edges are looking more like a carnation. What have I done wrong or what am I doing wrong?

One other question to all - Do you use the disposable bags or the original Wilton bags for decorating? Could this make a difference in the icing? I just started using the disposable and sometimes it feels as if my icing gets softer faster.

When you say your edges look like carnations what do you mean? Are the jagged or broken, dont look smooth. If that is the case the problem might be your tip. Alot of times with new tips you need to open them up a bit. I take either the tip of my rose nail or on of my smaller spatuala and stick it in the tip and GENTLY go back and forth till the tip opens up. I especailly have to do that with my rose tips and leaf tips.

Try opening up the tip. I have the problem, just open it a little at a time. You should see improvement with each try. Also make sure your frosting is smooth and not too thick. But if you are using dawns, it should be good.

some people will also put piping gel in their frosting to make it flow smoother.

When you say your edges look like carnations what do you mean? Are the jagged or broken, dont look smooth. If that is the case the problem might be your tip. Alot of times with new tips you need to open them up a bit. I take either the tip of my rose nail or on of my smaller spatuala and stick it in the tip and GENTLY go back and forth till the tip opens up. I especailly have to do that with my rose tips and leaf tips.

I never knew this and this was exactly the problem I was having with my roses on the wedding cake I did last weekend. It was a brand, spankin' new 104 tip and I just couldn't NOT get the edges smooth. Something I have NEVER had a problem with before. I tried everything I could think of and still no improvement. I did not try to open the tip up more because I never knew this could be the problem.

I ended up not doing any flowers on the cake at all because of this. Thanks for the tip!